Akata looked around at all of the ruffled disciples and scratched his head. “Sorry about that. I got a bit carried away in my enlightenment.” He laughed. As he did the mat below him lit up and made his body glow with a white light. This white light gave him access to the second floor of the tower.

Apologizing once more to the people on the first floor Akata made his way to the second floor. When he got there he saw that the people here as well were flustered and confused as to what had happened. When they saw Akata come up they knew it had to have been something because of him.

“It was you wasn’t it?” A soft voice rang into the ears of Akata.

He turned to see a beautiful young lady that was seated on a white mat looking at him with dreamy eyes. Akata couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose as he said calmly, “Yes. sorry about that fellow daoists.” The girl was actually Pulong Chu.

She stood up and as she did her beautiful white robe flowed down like the clouds. “It’s nice to see that you’re back. I’m sure you just gained some huge enlightenment just now so I’ll spare you the details of what I’m about to say.

The Body Spirit Exam should be coming within the next two days. If you’re looking to make it to the third floor by then, then your enlightenment period on this floor better be fast. Even if you do make it to the third floor you can be kicked back down if you don’t pass the trial once you get up there. Then you’ll have to seek new enlightenment of something.”

She pointed to a mat that was close to Akata and said, “No standing around, hurry up.” She then sat back down and began to meditate. There were more people on the second floor than there were on the first floor. That was because even if you were good enough to make it to the third floor you could be kicked back down.

Akata didn’t waste time as he quickly strode toward the nearby mat. However, as soon as he stepped on it, it lit up with a white light. The light surrounded his body which, in turn, gave him access to the third floor.

The disciples on this floor saw the whole thing and stood up.

“What the? He already has access to the third floor?”

“He just got here how is that possible?”

“I’ve been here for a week and haven’t been able to get to the third floor. He just shows up from the first and is already able to go to the third? He didn’t even get the chance to sit down yet!”

Complaints arose from most of the disciples on the second floor. Akata just waltz onto the second floor and immediately got access to the third? This was just blasphemy.

“I know you all felt that disturbance he had caused on the first floor.” Pulong Chu said calmly. This immediately quieted everybody down. Right. The disturbance Akata had caused even reached them who were on the second floor.

Each floor was designed to be completely separate from the others. If the disturbance from the first floor was enough to awaken them who were on the second floor it had to be truly great. In fact, it was great enough to grant that person entry to the third floor.

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They all quieted down and didn’t say anything more. This was Akata they were talking about. Eventually, they ignored him and began to meditate again.

Akata nodded his head in Pulong Chu’s direction and then went upstairs to the third floor. If he already had enough enlightenment to go to the third floor what was the point in staying on the second?

He walked up the stairs and before he could even see the top of the floor he was teleported to a different place. When he reappeared he was within an arena. There was nobody within the arena but him.

Literally. Akata looked over and saw that there was another him in the arena across from himself. That version of himself wore a black robe and looked extremely calm. It spoke in Akata’s same voice too.

“Defeat me.” That was all it said. Afterwards it launched itself at Akata. Akata didn’t think anymore as he charged in as well. They exchanged blow after blow, matching each other's strengths. They were very much so evenly matched.

Akata waved his hand and caused an orange rune to appear with turned into a pillar of flames that shot toward the fake Akata. The fake Akata on the other hand caused a blue rune to appear which shot a pillar of water at the incoming flames. Both attacks dissolved into the others and vanished, only to leave behind a mist.

The mist vanished and they stood across from each other not moving. Akata gave a harrumph as he made his new scythe appear, the Blacksoul Scythe. In response, the fake Akata did the same. They fought and fought. The two were extremely evenly matched. Whenever one did something the other would counterattack with a move that would render the former useless.

Eventually, the fake Akata started to press the attack instead of waiting for Akata. It’s moves fit perfectly together and joined into a flawless cycle. It waved its hand and numerous yellow and orange runes appeared which caused a huge fire to assault Akata. But fake Akata didn’t stop there as he created huge green runes to appear that made wood spring up everywhere and burn around Akata.

Akata started to get overwhelmed and he caused an enormous blue rune to form in the sky. All of a sudden a giant wave of water crashed down onto the arena and washed away all of the fire that was burning. This enormous rune drained a lot of Akata’s energy. Water filled the arena.

The fake Akata jumped into the air as flashing runes appeared over the stage. A spark sprang from the runes and soon a wave of lightning washed over the water that was on stage.

Akata’s eyes went wide as he caused a tan rune to appear and create a sand pillar for him to stand on. Immediately after, all of the water below was electrified from the lightning. ‘I don’t even know how to use lightning runes.’ Akata thought to himself. ‘This clone is formidable. Not only does it have all my moves and abilities, it even has my battle instincts and ideas. I can’t hold back on it any longer.’

Akata’s face became extremely calm. Along with that his natural energy that seeped out from him stopped flowing out of him. He was in complete control of his energy. With a flash of black light he activated his Shadowlight movement skill and was upon the fake Akata in an instant. He waved his Blacksoul Scythe and struck out with a fast blow.

Space made way for his scythe as he used the first stance of the Underdark technique, Soul Swipe. Now that Akata had gained enlightenment regarding the soul element, this skill dramatically improved in power. A crimson light showed and enveloped the scythe.

The fake Akata didn’t turn its head as it raised its own Blacksoul Scythe. Violet light began to shine on the scythe as it smashed into the scythe in Akata’s hands.

Boom!

The resulting clash ripped apart the air. This was a clash of not just scythes and techniques, but Outer Elements! Specifically the Outer Elements of Souls and Khaos! The clash was brief but a huge crater formed in the spot where the clash took place.

Akata was thrown back and was left shaken. The fake Akata was also thrown back but blood could be seen dripping from its mouth. It looked at Akata for a moment then nodded its head. “Good. Focus more on your knowledge and skills of elements and you’ll move far.” With that the fake Akata vanished.

The scene around Akata faded away as he was teleported back to the stairs. He took in a deep breath and thought back to that fight. It had been extremely tough and draining. The only reason he wasn’t really injured was because he was evenly matched with himself. Fighting geniuses was easy but fighting oneself was a lot more tricky and difficult.

‘I’m a monster.’ Akata thought to himself as he shook his head and stepped up the rest of the way to the third floor. Once he got up there he noticed the arrangement. This floor was different from the previous two floors. The previous floors were all white and had mats on the ground for meditating. But this floor however, was trimmed with gold and instead of mats there were beds.

Upon reaching the third floor, Akata saw two other people there. Jiandan Fuza opened his eyes and glanced at him before scoffing and closing them once more. He was seated on one bed that was tucked into the corner. The other figure…